THE PHILIPPINE Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) canceled a tsunami warning it had issued after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake rocked Taiwan on Wednesday.
“Based on available data of our sea level monitoring stations facing the epicentral area, no significant sea level disturbances have been recorded since 7:58 a.m. up until this cancellation,” it said in a 10 a.m. advisory.
“With this, any effects due to the tsunami warning have largely passed.”
The agency earlier warned that the tsunami could hit the Batanes Group of Islands, Cagayan, llocos Norte and Isabela. It said the first tsunami could arrive between 08:33 a.m. and 10:33 a.m.
The Department of Interior and Local Government said that as of 10:30 a.m., local governments in northern Luzon had not reported a rise in water levels.
Towns in northern Luzon took action after the initial warning from the seismology agency. The Cagayan Valley Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council ordered residents in coastal areas to move to higher ground.
The Taiwan quake, the strongest in 25 years, killed at least seven people and injured more than 700, according to its fire bureau.
Taiwan is just 376 kilometers away from the northernmost Philippine province of Batanes.
“Rest assured, our Department of Migrant Workers is diligently ensuring the safety of the 159,480 Filipinos currently residing in Taiwan,” Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said in an X post.
“We stand ready to assist and support our fellow Filipinos in Taiwan in any way possible during this difficult period.”
No Filipino was killed or hurt in the earthquake, Silvestre H. Bello III, head of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, said in a statement. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
